Languages are tunnels that lead to the worlds of infinite knowledge
(so have fun with the English language!) -- Locky

Thursday, 9 October 2014

Event & Opinions: Arguments Surrounding Occupy Central

TIME will tell? Yes, TIME did tell
Image from 破折號 Dash

Too many arguments surrounding Occupy Central are anything but logical. After days of flooding myself with information, I wrote a number of posts on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter and here is the compilation, plus additional comments at the end.

***********************************

A demonstrator resting
Image from The New York Times / Xaume Olleros/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Like it or not, 'pro-' or 'anti-', treasure your right to 'oppose' whichever side you're on, because if #occupycentral fails, very soon one day, people of Hong Kong won't even be able to search for these words on the internet, or dictionary, or books, or newspapers, or posters, or leaflets, or flyers, and the list goes on and on.

If you think #occupycentral demonstrators are disruptive, you are right, because that's the whole point. Want everything to return to normal? There's a way, ask the Chief Executive to answer the crowd.

***********************************

True, freedom isn't food, can't sustain your living. But how's life without freedom gonna be different from life in jail even if you are well-fed? #occupycentral

***********************************

#occupycentral The argument I hear the most these days is, "if they dislike China's way of governing Hong Kong so much, why don't they go live in America?" But the same argument can also be rephrased, ,"if you like the China's way of governing Hong Kong so much, why don't you go live in mainland China?" This is not productive at all, so might as well not say it.

***********************************

#occupycentral Some people are sharing photos of female demonstrators being sexually assaulted in some democratic country to argue this to be the norm in all democratic societies. Here're the possible outcomes if such tragedy happens in a democratic society versus an anti-democratic one:

In an anti-democratic society: Victim sues the abuser and victim gets jail time, or the victim doesn't get to sue because she simply vanishes -- lost in oblivion.

***********************************

Image from 9GAG.com

And some anti-#occupycentral supporters on social media say, "If you dislike CY Leung so much, then why don't you be the chief executive?" Great suggestion! But...isn't this what the Occupy Central demonstrators are fighting for? The right to vote and be voted?

***********************************

Organisers of the movement (from the left Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Dr Benny Tai Yiu-ting, and Chan Kin-man) published their statement at a press conference on 27 March 2013.
Caption from Wikipedia, image from VOA

Senior relatives laughed at their own imaginary scenario, "Haha! If those 3 founders of #OccupyCentral were in mainland China, they would have long been arrested and 'disappeared' entirely! Hahahaha!" I don't find that funny at all, because those words had a lot of implications, here are the key ones:

they are anti-democratic,

they implicitly admit that the way Chinese government deals with the opposition is scary,

they explicitly enjoy it and they agree that the same policy should be adopted in Hong Kong,

they think they understand every bit of how the Chinese government works,

they think they, and/or maybe their love ones, will forever be exempted from such brutal treatment.

The last one scared me the most. Because when one thinks he knows any governments best, that's when he is truly ignorant.

***********************************

To those who believe that "it is stupidly wrong to attempt the impossible and fight a no-win fight, here's what the English subtitles say in this episode of House M.D﻿,

House M.D. Season 1 Episode 17
Image from FOX

This is what I have found in the midst of my PhD research. Don't look at the Chinese subtitles, read the English ones.

Senator: Well, [knocks on the hospital bed frame] then I’m running.Foreman: Good for you.Senator: No, don’t get excited, he’s right, I, uh, I won’t win.House: Then why run?Senator: Oh, I see, your point being the only way to make a difference is to win every fight. [House looks pensive.]